


Words Cannot Espresso

by justyrae



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Pick-Up Lines, F/M, Flirting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-04 14:53:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4141929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nobody's totally immune to Harry Styles' charms, even when he uses the oldest lines in the book.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words Cannot Espresso

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LesserDisaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesserDisaster/gifts).



> I just couldn't pick between two of your lovely prompts, so I went with both! hope you enjoy :)
> 
> big thanks to my betas J and A, and another special thanks to A for the absurdly cheesy (and totally apt) title <3

Niall had passed by the coffee shop several times before she finally went in. She wasn't the biggest fan of coffee to begin with, but when she'd seen the ‘help wanted’ sign in the window she'd figured it was worth a shot.

The shop was a decent size, full of comfy armchairs and sofas, with quaint decorations scattered across the surfaces and walls. She liked the atmosphere immediately and had no issue finding the manager to inquire about the open position. Despite having no prior experience as a barista, she managed to charm the woman into hiring her anyway.

"You'll start next week, how's that sound?"

"Brilliant," Niall replied with a smile. "Can't wait."

"Excellent," Caroline, the manager, said as she took down Niall's information. "Be here at 2 on Monday, and ask for Harry. He'll show you around, alright?"

"Perfect." Niall beamed. "I won't let you down."

Niall was more excited than anything else to start working, eager to get to know people outside of her classes at uni and hopefully have a bit of fun while she was at it. It had never been particularly hard for her to make friends back home and that had translated well to her first few weeks at her new school in London.

Even so, she wasn't quite sure what to expect when she walked into the coffee shop that Monday afternoon. She certainly didn't think she'd overhear a rather loud conversation between two boys as she approached the counter - although it was nearly impossible not to eavesdrop given the fact that one was practically shouting at the other.

"I'm telling you, Haz, I can't live with him much longer. I'll kill him!"

"You won't," the boy apparently named Haz replied. He was behind the counter and kept pushing sweets towards the other boy to distract him. "Why don't you move out?"

"And live where? With you?" he laughed loudly before shoving half a brownie into his mouth. "Fat chance of that," he replied, narrowly missing spraying brownie crumbs everywhere.

Niall hung back, not wanting to interrupt their conversation just yet because it was too amusing. She tried to remain nonchalant and keep out of sight of the boy behind the counter as he tapped his fingers against the bakery display case.

"What about Liam?" he offered. "He was just telling me the other day he could use a roommate to share in the rent."

"Liam?" the other boy repeated in disbelief. "I can't live with Liam."

"Why not?"

"Because… it's _Liam_."

Haz rolled his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with Liam. You're ridiculous."

"He irons his jeans, Haz. He's _weird_."

"He does not!" Haz laughed as the other boy raised his eyebrows. "Alright, maybe he does, but that doesn't make him weird."

"Yeah, it does," Niall added, not meaning to say it aloud. She froze when the two boys turned to look at her.

"Excuse me," the boy who'd been eating a brownie stared her down, "but who the fuck are you?"

"Niall Horan," she replied with a grin, "who the fuck are you?"

The boy kept staring at her for another minute or so before he broke into a huge smile and said, "Louis Tomlinson. And I like you."

"Well I don't iron my jeans so I reckon that makes it easy for you." Niall stepped forward and cleared her throat, suddenly feeling a bit nervous under the piercing gaze of the boy behind the counter. "M'actually supposed to start here today. Are you Harry?"

"I am," he replied with a smile, not taking his eyes off of Niall. "If you can keep up with Louis already then you'll get the hang of this place in no time."

"I'm everyone's favorite customer," Louis remarked proudly.

"M'sure you are," Niall replied with a laugh. Louis frowned at her and turned to Harry, who quickly schooled his face from a cheeky smile to a serious look which made Louis frown even more.

"You're no help," he remarked with a loud huff. "Tell her!"

"Mum says it's not polite to lie," Harry replied with a grin, quickly darting out of Louis' reach across the counter. Niall burst into laughter as Louis threw the other half of his brownie at Harry, making an absolute mess of the floor behind the counter.

"Serves you right," Louis huffed as Harry groaned and brushed the brownie crumbs off of his apron.

"Good thing Caroline wasn't around to see that," Harry replied, stepping over the mess of brownie on the floor to resume leaning against the counter. "She'd have your head."

"Caroline loves me," Louis announced proudly.

"Of course," Niall said with an exaggerated nod, "you're everyone's favorite customer!"

Harry snickered, quickly covering his mouth with his hand to muffle the sound as Louis narrowed his eyes at Niall.

"I take it back," he said, "I don't like you anymore."

"Oh no!" Niall cried dramatically, clutching her heart. "Whatever will I do?!"

"Make it up to me by buying me another brownie," Louis demanded, making Harry roll his eyes.

"Absolutely not. You already wasted half of one and I'm not about to let you ruin another perfectly good brownie." Niall laughed.

"She's got a point," Harry said, smiling brightly at Niall. "I think you'll get on here just fine."

"Excellent," Niall smiled back before asking, "shall we get started, then?"

"Great idea!" Harry said as he waved her around the corner. "Lou, I'll text you Liam's number later so you can talk about moving in, alright?"

"Fine," Louis said with a long, exasperated sigh, "but don't hold your breath."

"Louis--"

"Bye, Niall!" Louis called loudly as he walked towards the door, "keep your hands to yourself, Harold!"

Niall laughed and waved at Louis' back as she carefully stepped over the remains of Louis' brownie and gently leaned against the bakery display case and sized Harry up. He looked a bit exasperated from Louis’ parting comment, but Niall could see his amusement underneath it all.

Now that they were alone - well, apart from the other customers who were scattered across the coffee shop - Niall felt her pulse quicken under Harry's gaze. She had yet to feel a genuine attraction to anyone since she'd moved to London and the way her heart beat a little faster whenever Harry was around was enough to make her a little dizzy with desire. She tried her best to keep from giving it all away with her eyes as the two of them shared an awkward silence, now standing barely three feet away from each other.

"Let me just…" Harry chuckled under his breath as he turned away from Niall and went to get a broom, giving Niall a short reprieve to get a grip on herself.

 _Keep it together_ , she told herself as she took a deep breath and resolutely did _not_ stare at Harry's bum as he bent over to grab a dustpan as well.

At least, she didn't stare at it long enough to get caught when Harry turned back around. He swept up the brownie, whistling to himself and twirling the broom around as though it were his dance partner. Niall couldn't keep a smile off her face as she watched, growing more and more enamoured with Harry with each passing second.

He continued to whistle as he put the broom and dustpan back, brushing his hands off on his apron as he walked back towards Niall and leaned back on his elbows with the small of his back pressed against the counter.

"So, Niall," he said with a grin as he slid close to her, "how do you _brew_?"

Niall burst out laughing as Harry kept grinning at her, clearly very pleased with himself. Her face felt hot and her heart was pounding, but she wasn't going to let him get away with such a ridiculous line.

"Are you serious?" she asked, shaking her head.

"What?" Harry frowned, sticking his bottom lip out in a ridiculous pout that he could hardly hold as he tried to keep from smiling. "You didn't like that?"

"I'd wager you can do better than that," Niall replied, raising her eyebrows as she smirked at him. Harry shrugged as he turned to lean back against the counter, nodding his head in the direction of the espresso machine.

"C'mon, let's get steamy," he said with a wink as he held out his hand to her.

Niall raised her eyebrow, her eyes darting to the espresso machine before smirking at Harry.

"Back to the _grind_?" Harry laughed delightedly and Niall mimed brushing dirt off her shoulder. "I can give just as good as I get."

"I see that," Harry said, his smile turning just the slightest bit lewd before he turned away.

Niall took a deep breath before she followed, knowing full well that this was just the beginning.

*

The first month of Niall's term flew by without anything monumental happening, mostly because any time she didn't spend attending class or in her dormitory, she spent at the coffee shop. And most of that time was spent with Harry, who was still very insistent on training her even though she'd learned most everything she needed to in the first week.

Niall didn’t mind at all; she liked Harry because of his quirky mannerisms and inability to go twenty minutes without flirting with someone, usually with a coffee-related pick-up line that he never seemed to run out of.

"Careful, you're hot," he'd said with a wink after sliding a mug of coffee across the counter to the delight of two girls who couldn't stop giggling as they walked away. Niall rolled her eyes when Harry turned back to her, shaking her head as she muttered _easiest pun in the book_.

"If you need to take it slow, I can cold-brew," he'd said to a boy not much older than either of them who blushed so much he ended up slipping Harry a tenner for a drink that cost barely half of that and ran off before Harry could give him change.

Harry shrugged sheepishly at Niall when he looked back at her. Niall gave Harry a sympathetic smile and patted his shoulder as she leaned in to whisper, "came on too strong."

"Don't worry, she's very gentle on the frothing knob," he'd said to an older woman who politely asked him not to make her mocha too hot. Niall didn't think the woman understood that one but it was enough to make her nearly fall over from trying not to laugh.

"You're absolutely awful, d'you know that?" Niall had said after the woman had left and she'd recovered from her laughing fit.

Harry shrugged and said with a grin, "I get that a _latte_ ," making Niall groan and laugh all over again.

Harry’s need to flirt with quite literally anyone that walked in didn't bother Niall much because he spent equally as much time flirting with her. And some days Niall didn't think anything of it when he flirted with her, but others it made her heart flutter and she had to immediately turn away so he wouldn't see the flush in her cheeks or the jealousy she had to fight to contain.

Niall didn't understand herself for the first time in her life, and it was all Harry's fault.

She'd more or less managed to get control of her feelings after her first week, especially after the first time Harry flirted with someone else right in front of her. It had caught her off guard at first, because up until then she'd never felt any sort of jealousy before. She knew better than to think she had some sort of claim on Harry, especially when they'd only known each other a few days, but it didn't stop her from envying the people Harry focused his attention on.

The real problem was that she couldn't keep herself from flirting back. She knew it was silly, and probably didn't mean anything to him, but it didn't stop her from using as many cheesy pick-up lines on him as she knew just to see him smile at her. Every night when she'd leave the coffee shop she'd go back to her dormitory and replay each one in her mind as she fell asleep, falling deeper and deeper into the hole she'd made for herself.

It was only made worse when Niall's brother and his family came to London for a weekend visit, surprising her in the middle of a shift at the coffee shop. Niall had been feeling a bit homesick but she'd never expected them to make a trip with their toddler, Theo.

"He's getting so big!" Niall shrieked as she ran over to them, having stopped mid-sentence in a conversation with Harry when she'd seen them come in. "C'mere, Theo!"

He giggled happily in Niall's arms, letting her kiss his cheeks as he curled his tiny fists around the straps of her apron around her neck.

"Careful," Greg warned, "he's been grabbing a lot of things lately."

"Is that right?" Niall cooed, nuzzling her nose against Theo's cheek. "Been grabbing at things you shouldn't?"

Theo babbled back to her, and Niall laughed delightedly as she hugged him tightly. She spent a few minutes chatting with Greg and his wife Denise before she felt someone come up behind her. She turned around with Theo still in her arms to see Harry smiling as his attention was immediately stolen by Theo.

"Well, hello there," he said as Niall shifted Theo in her arms so he was now facing Harry, "who might you be?"

"This is Theo, my nephew," Niall replied proudly as she pressed her lips against his head, "Theo, this is Harry. Can you say hi?"

Harry bent down to say hello, getting close enough that when Theo reached out he managed to tangle his tiny hands in Harry's hair and tug hard enough that Harry stumbled a bit.

"Theo!" Denise said as she rushed over to try and untangle the pair of them. "I'm so sorry!"

Niall, on the other hand, found the entire thing absolutely hilarious and couldn't stop laughing, which set Theo off giggling as well and made him tug on Harry's hair even more.

"S'alright," Harry replied rather gruffly once Theo's hands were out of his hair and he was standing up straight again. "He's got quite the grip."

"D'you want to hold him?" Niall asked, looking at Harry with a smile. Instead of saying yes like she'd expected, Harry cleared his throat and quickly excused himself from their company. Niall didn't think anything of it until later in the day after her family had left and she was sweeping up after the shop had closed.

"Why'd you run off earlier?" she asked. "I thought you loved babies."

She'd seen him coo and gush over enough babies that came into the shop to know full well that Harry did love babies; there had been more than once that she was sure he was going to try and kidnap one while their mother's back was turned.

"I do," Harry replied with a laugh, not looking Niall in the eye as he added, "someone had to get back to the counter, didn't they?"

"S'pose so," Niall answered, giving Harry a curious look but she didn't press the matter any further. She pushed down the feeling of disappointment that curled in her stomach; she didn't even know why she'd wanted to see him holding her nephew so badly, she just did.

Nothing made sense anymore.

*

The weeks passed with Niall having more dreams about Harry than without, making her sleep anything but restful. After one particularly restless night, Niall was rushing to get to the coffee shop on time. She'd accidentally overslept and had barely managed to get out of her dormitory fifteen minutes before her shift was due to start. And to add insult to injury she walked headfirst into someone, knocking him onto the sidewalk and tripping over him in turn.

"I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright," the boy struggled to get back up as Niall untangled herself from him, the both of them out of breath by the time they were standing again. "Are you okay?"

Niall laughed. "I'm the one who ran into you and you're asking if I'm okay?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders, looking down at his feet with a sheepish smile.

"Let me make it up to you," Niall offered.

"You don't have to--"

"I insist." Niall checked the time on her phone and winced before she looked back at the boy. "How about I buy you a coffee? I work in the shop just down the street, and I'm going to be very late if you say no."

"Then I'd better say yes," the boy replied with a smile and Niall beamed.

"Excellent!" Niall exclaimed as she grabbed the boy's arm and started dragging him down the street.

When they made it to the coffee shop, there was a small line leading up to the counter and Niall frowned as she realized that she'd have to leave the boy at the end and run to help Harry with the rush.

"Don't you run off now," she warned as she made sure he got into line, "I owe you a coffee and you're going to get it."

"Alright," the boy answered with a laugh as he held up his hands. Niall beamed again before she dashed off to the counter.

"Fancy seeing you here," Harry said with a low laugh as Niall rounded the corner, breathless but still smiling.

"Sorry," she said as she quickly tied her apron on, "had a few mishaps this morning."

Niall didn't _forget_ about the coffee she'd promised the boy, she'd just miscounted the number of people in line and hadn't realized he'd moved up quite so quickly. She was also thrown off by the fact that when it was his turn to order, Harry gave an excited shout.

"Liam!"

" _Liam_?"

Up until that day Niall had only heard about Liam from Harry and Louis, though every time Louis brought Liam up in conversation it was because he had something new to complain about. Niall only ever believed half of what Louis said - she'd learned very quickly that Louis talked an inordinate amount of shit about any and every thing - so she hadn't been quite sure what to expect when Harry revealed that the boy she ran into was in fact Liam.

"What brings you in today, Li?" Harry asked as Liam gave Niall a nervous smile. "Thought you hated spending money on coffee."

"I do," he said, looking back at Harry, "but--"

"It's on me!" Niall said, quickly running over to Harry's side. "I knocked poor Liam down outside and promised him a coffee to make up for it."

"Did you?" Harry asked with an amused smile. "You knocked _Liam_ down?"

"I don't like what you're insinuating, Styles."

"She came out of nowhere," Liam interrupted, "besides, _someone_ sabotaged my coffee maker last night so I was coming here anyway, actually."

"Someone?" Niall raised her eyebrow. "You mean Louis?"

"Louis," Liam said with a deep, exasperated sigh. "Dunno why I ever let him move in with me in the first place," he grumbled.

"Because you needed a roommate and he needed a room?" Niall offered.

"S'pose so." Liam said around a small smile. "Should just blame Harry, it was his idea."

"Hey," Harry said with a frown, "it's working out well enough, innit? Apart from the coffee maker mishap."

"Mishap?" Liam repeated with a laugh. "A mishap would've been accidentally leaving it on all day or something."

"What'd he do?" Niall asked.

"Knocked it off the bloody counter!" Liam frowned. "Should've heard him when I confronted him about it, acting all innocent, saying it was an accident." He huffed. " _Accident, my arse_ ," he mumbled under his breath.

"Maybe it was," Harry offered. "M'sure Louis didn't mean to break it."

"Then explain how it got from its place in the corner near the stove to on the floor clear across the room," Liam grumbled.

"That…" Niall hummed. "No, you've got a point, that does sound like it was on purpose."

"He's doing it to get back at me," Liam continued miserably, "because I wouldn't agree to a party he wanted to throw."

"A party?" Niall asked. "What sort of party?"

"Dunno, the normal kind?" Liam shrugged. "I told him not in our flat because I've heard about the parties he throws and that's not happening."

"There's nothing quite like a Tommo Party," Harry said with a chuckle. Niall gave him a confused look. Harry shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "they tend to get a bit out of hand."

"What, like, tiger in the bathroom, baby in the closet sort of out of hand?" Niall said with a laugh, her eyes widening when neither of them denied it. "Wait, really?"

"Not exactly," Liam replied, "but close enough."

"Shit." Niall whistled. "Dunno if I've ever been to a party like that."

"Well, you won't at my flat, I'll tell you that right now." Liam huffed, glancing up at the menu again before finally ordering.

"Hope you get a new coffee maker soon!" Niall said as she gave Liam his drink. "But you should come in more often, whether or not you get coffee."

"Yeah, alright." Liam smiled. "Good to meet you, Niall."

"Likewise," Niall replied with a wide smile. "And I'm serious, I don't want to have to knock you down and drag you here myself next time."

"Alright, alright," Liam replied with a laugh as he saluted Harry with his coffee before he left the shop, leaving the pair of them alone behind the counter. Niall smacked Harry's shoulder as soon as the door shut behind him.

"You didn't tell me Liam was _cute_."

"What?" Harry said with a frown as he rubbed his shoulder. "You think Liam's cute?"

Niall nodded. "He's nice. And very sweet."

"I'm nice," Harry said as he moved closer to Niall and nudged his arm against her hip, "and sweet."

"Uh-huh," Niall said as she stepped away, shaking her head as she started rearranging the bakery case just for something to do that wasn't looking at Harry.

"What, you don't think I'm cute too?"

"That's not the point," Niall mumbled as she felt her cheeks turning red. Harry inched even closer to her, making Niall feel even more nervous.

"Then what is the point?" he asked with a grin. Niall paused in her re-arranging (though it was more like rummaging since she really hadn't done much) to take a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts.

"You--"

"Harold! Make me some tea!" Louis yelled as he burst through the door of the coffee shop, startling both Niall and Harry and several of the patrons scattered throughout the shop.

Harry closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh as he moved away from Niall and towards the other end of the counter to where Louis was now standing. Niall sighed in relief as the two started talking, or rather Louis continued yelling at Harry to make him tea and Harry just rolled his eyes. Everything was back to normal.

Until Louis finally got his tea, that is.

"So!" Louis said as he set his tea down on the counter, looking as though he had zero intent on moving along any time soon. "I think it's time I threw another party."

*

As Niall stood in front of her mirror, trying to decide whether it was worth it to change her shirt again, she couldn't quite believe that she'd been roped into going to Louis' party. Granted, she'd never turned down an invitation to a party before but this one gave her nerves like none of the others ever had.

"You're coming, right?" Louis had asked, practically staring her down until she squeaked yes in return.

It was all Louis had talked about that day, boasting loudly about how it was going to be the party to end all parties and Niall couldn't help but snicker when she thought about how dead Louis was going to be when Liam got wind of this. It was sure to be World War III in their flat and who was she to turn down a chance to see that?

Niall shook her head, turning away from the mirror as she muttered to herself that what she had on was _fine_. She wasn't trying to impress anyone… really. The thought that this was going to be the first time she hung out with Harry outside of work had crossed her mind, several times in fact, but she was desperately trying not to let that cloud her judgement.

"I look fantastic," she muttered, making herself believe it. She'd told herself this no less than a hundred times before she'd ever met Harry, but lately she'd had to work just a bit harder to actually believe it.

"Stupid boys and their stupid smiles," she grumbled as she gathered up the clothes she'd strewn around her room while she was getting ready, "making me all… stupid."

Niall threw her clothes into the hamper with a groan, taking a second to take a deep breath before she left her room and headed out of her dormitory towards Louis and Liam's flat. She arrived long enough after the party had begun that when the front door swung open she was a bit overwhelmed by the noise and sheer number of people that had fit inside.

"Oh, thank god," Liam said as he grabbed Niall's wrist and tugged her in through the door, "finally someone I recognize."

Niall laughed at first, but it faded quickly when she saw how exhausted Liam already was. She frowned and linked their arms together as she patted his chest consolingly.

"Mostly Tommo's friends, then?" Niall remarked as she looked at the crowd around them, suddenly thankful that it had been Liam to answer the door.

"Bloody Tommo," Liam grumbled, "when I find him I'm going to wring his neck."

"When you find him?" Niall laughed. "He's around here somewhere, isn't he?"

"He's been avoiding me all night," Liam said with a huff, "he'd better still be here."

"How about a tour?" Niall suggested, gently tugging on Liam's arm. "Since it's my first time here and all, you have to show me around."

"Alright," Liam answered with a smile. "Keep an eye out for Lou, though, yeah?"

"Will do." Niall saluted Liam, grinning widely as he started to lead her through the crowd. They started in the kitchen, where Niall filled a red plastic cup with some concoction that she found in a punchbowl that Liam eyed a bit warily.

"Dunno if you should be drinking that," he said as he continued to stare at the bowl suspiciously. Niall sniffed her cup and considered it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and taking a sip.

"Tastes alright to me," she said as she held it out to Liam, "want a sip?"

"Nah," Liam waved it away, "I, um, don't drink."

"No worries," Niall said as she took another sip before linking arms with Liam again. "Onward!"

Liam continued to lead her around the apartment, pointing out various knick-knacks along the way and telling her stories about his family that endeared him to her even more. He even showed her his own room, which he'd protected from the other party-goers by installing a padlock on the outside so nobody could get in.

"Bit extreme, innit?"

"You've never been to a Tommo Party," Liam said with a laugh, "step one is never leave anything up to chance."

"Got it."

Harry hadn't crossed Niall's mind during the time she spent with Liam, not even a passing thought to wonder why she hadn't seen him yet. It didn't matter, because as she and Liam came out of his room Harry appeared in the hallway right next to them.

"You made it!" he said, leaning against the wall as he smiled down at Niall.

"Here I am!"

"What were you two doing in there?" Harry asked, looking past Niall at Liam who was fumbling with the lock on his door. "Naughty things?" he asked in a loud, drunken whisper.

"D'you think I'd tell you if we were?" Niall asked, mimicking Harry's whisper with a grin.

"Liam would," Harry said as he poked Liam in the back, "wouldn't you?"

"We weren't doing naughty things, Haz," Liam answered flatly, turning his head to give Harry an annoyed look, "m'not Louis."

"True," Harry replied with a laugh, "that Tommo, always up to something."

"You haven't seen him, have you? Liam was looking for him earlier."

"He was in the kitchen a while ago," Harry said as he turned his attention back to Niall, "yelling something about keg stands? Or was it body shots…"

"You're fucking joking," Liam grumbled as he quickly started to make his way through the crowd, leaving Harry and Niall behind.

"Those aren't even the same thing," Niall said, giggling into her cup as Harry smiled down at her.

"What've you got there?" He asked, reaching out for her cup but Niall pulled it away from him.

"Get your own," she said, laughing as Harry frowned. "This one's mine."

"Niall," he whined as he put his hand on her waist and tried to pull her closer. He ducked his head to continue whimpering in her ear, tickling her neck with his breath.

"Harry," she mimicked his tone as she took a step back, pulling herself out of his grasp and pressing her back against the wall, "what're you doing?"

Harry frowned and reached out as though he were going to touch her waist again but then thought better of it and ran his hand through his hair instead.

"Just… thinking," he answered with a crooked smile, and Niall can't help the giggle that slips out.

"Thinking?" She teased lightly as she chewed on the rim of her cup. "What're you thinking about?"

"What're _you_ thinking about?" He asked as he lifted his hand and gently tapped Niall's nose with one finger, making them both laugh.

"I asked you first." Niall narrowed her eyes at Harry but he just continued smiling at her. She let out a soft huff, batting Harry's hand away from poking her again. "Alright," she said with another sigh, taking another moment to work up her courage before she continued, "why'd you run off?"

"What?" Harry blinked, staring down at her in confusion. "When?"

"When I asked you if you wanted to hold Theo," Niall went on. She felt ridiculous for asking, especially given that it had been weeks since it happened, but she couldn't rid herself of the curiosity. "You just… left."

Harry closed his eyes and groaned softly, tipping forward to press his forehead against the wall next to Niall's head. He let out a low chuckle before mumbling, "it's weird."

"So?" Niall replied. "C'mon, tell me."

"I had to," Harry mumbled, "so you wouldn't see."

"See what?" Niall asked as she tugged on the hem of Harry's shirt. "C'mon, it can't be that weird, can it?"

"It was just…" Harry cleared his throat, "I like-- I _really_ like having my hair pulled."

Niall stared at him for a moment, watching his cheeks turn bright red before she understood what he meant and she burst into a fit of giggles.

"Is that right?" She bit her bottom lip as she tentatively lifted her hand and brushed her fingers against Harry's curls, keeping her eyes on his face to see his reaction when she hooked her finger around one in particular and gave it a light tug.

"Niall," he said followed by a sharp intake of breath, "what're you doing?"

"Just… thinking," Niall replied, grinning at Harry as she tugged on his hair again. He dropped his head as he let out a groan, close enough to Niall's ear that it sent a shiver down her spine. She pulled on his hair a third time and Harry lifted his head to stare at her with a look that made her want to shiver all over.

"Wanna know what I'm thinking?" he asked in a low voice. Niall smiled up at him as she nodded, feeling her heart beat faster as Harry leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

Niall made a weak noise at the back of her throat when Harry kissed her, but her eyes fluttered shut and she found herself kissing back for a few seconds. This, after all, was exactly what she'd wanted all along. Harry's attention was on her and her alone finally, but there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't let her enjoy the kiss as much as she wanted to.

She pulled her hand out of Harry's hair and pressed it against his chest, gently pushing him away as she muttered, "you're drunk."

Harry gave a soft groan of protest and tried to lean in to kiss her again, but Niall turned her head so his lips only got her cheek. She repeated herself as she took a step sideways, out from under Harry where she could breathe.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of the padlock on Liam's door and saw that he hadn't fastened it properly. She quickly reached up and grabbed it, pulling it free from the hinge and pushing the door open before grabbing Harry's shirt and yanking him inside.

"This is more like it," he said with a grin as she pushed him onto the bed, but his grin faded to a frown when she didn't join him.

"You need to sleep this off," she remarked with a sigh. "I'm going to get you some water, stay here."

"Niall," he whined, trying to grab her wrist before she got away.

"I'll be right back," she promised, shaking her head at his ridiculous pout as she slipped back through the door and closed it behind her.

Once Niall was back in the hallway, she leaned against the door to Liam's room and closed her eyes for a moment. With all the noise from the party it was nearly impossible to get a grip on her thoughts, especially when there was rather loud shouting coming from the kitchen. Niall opened her eyes again and stared down the hallway, straining to recognize the voices when she realized it was Louis and Liam.

She made her way back towards the kitchen against the masses who had started their exodus out the front door, apparently not having signed up for a shouting match between the two hosts.

"You're in here pissing about while my flat gets trashed!" Liam shouted when Niall reached the doorway to the kitchen, carefully staying hidden even though it was clear nothing was getting in the way of their argument.

" _Your_ flat?! I live here too!" Louis yelled back. "And _sorry_ for wanting to have fun for once, Liam! Not all of us have sticks permanently shoved up our arses!"

"The living room is trashed! My nan's blanket is ruined!" Liam groaned loudly in frustration. "Don't you have any respect for other people's things?!"

"Your nan's blanket wasn't my fault!"

"These are your friends, it is your bloody fault!"

"Maybe they'd be your friends too if you weren't such a fucking killjoy!"

"I have normal friends! Friends who don't trash my flat!"

"Where are these friends, then? Hmm?" Louis laughed coldly. "I don't see any of them here, Liam!"

"I didn't even want to have this stupid party!" Liam shouted. "I told you no, but _oh no_ , Tommo's always got to have his way! God forbid you act like a fucking adult for once in your life!"

Niall gasped, immediately clapping a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. The kitchen was empty save for the two of them and Niall in the doorway, and it was absolutely clear that she was _not_ supposed to be hearing this. Judging from the looks on both Louis and Liam's faces, they didn't want to hear it either. Niall turned away from the sight, intending to go back to Liam's room when she heard Louis' voice.

"Is that what you think?" he asked in a tone so low and hurt that it broke Niall's heart to hear it. "Liam, is that really what you think of me?"

"I…" Liam groaned, still panting from shouting so much, "I don't know. It's just… you don't care! You never seem to care about what happens to anyone other than yourself, especially not me."

"I care," Louis answered, his voice cracking halfway through the second word. "Don't tell me that I don't care, because I do."

"Well then fucking act like it! All you do is--"

Niall waited for Liam to finish his sentence, but the words never came. Confused, she peeked around the doorway and gasped again, but this time she had to cover her mouth to contain a squeal.

What she saw when she turned the corner was Louis pinning Liam against the kitchen counter as he kissed the living daylights out of him. And as far as Niall could tell, Liam was kissing Louis back just as desperately. She quickly ducked back into her hiding place when they started to move, trying their best to stay connected at the lips as they shuffled out of the kitchen and down the hallway.

"Mine, mine!" Louis gasped as they reached his doorway, mumbling, "not bothering with that bloody lock tonight," before he and Liam disappeared into his room.

Niall buried her head in her hands to mask the sound of her laughter, hardly believing what she'd just witnessed.

"Glad someone got their shit together," she muttered as she finally went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water for Harry.

 _Harry_. Amidst all the drama that had just occurred, she'd almost forgotten that he'd kissed her.

Niall stumbled a bit, catching herself by gripping the edge of the counter as she carefully avoided dropping the glass she'd filled and spilling water everywhere. Her heart fluttered with glee as she brushed her fingers over her lips, remembering what it had felt like to have Harry's lips cover her own. But in the same second where she felt giddy with the memory, her stomach turned as she forced herself to remember that he was _drunk_.

"He was drunk," she muttered to herself, "he was drunk and I was _there_ and he flirts with everything on the fucking planet, get a grip, Nialler."

She continued to mutter under her breath as she made her way back to Liam's room, thankful that Liam and Louis had managed to kick the door closed behind them as she passed Louis' room - the _sounds_ that were coming from the other side were enough to make Niall blush a deep red. Harry was fast asleep on top of Liam's duvet when she entered, and she laughed softly at the thought of Liam finding Harry's drool all over his pillow in the morning.

Niall gently put the glass of water down on the table next to the bed, and then hesitated for a few moments. On the one hand, she could've crawled onto the bed and curled up next to Harry to fall asleep and deal with the fallout in the morning. Or, she could turn on her heel and go home and pretend none of this ever happened.

In the interest of self-sacrifice, Niall went home. She crawled into her own empty bed and pulled the covers around her as tightly as she could as she shut her eyes and pressed her face into her pillow. She forced herself not to cry even though her whole body was shaking with the need to let it all out, but her mind was firm: she was not going to cry over Harry Styles.

*

Niall expected it to be awkward the next time she saw Harry, particularly because they were scheduled to work together the morning after Louis' party. She gave herself a pep talk before leaving her dormitory, telling herself that everything was going to be fine and things would be normal again someday. She expected Harry to be hungover on top of all of this so she figured their conversation would be sparse, that is if he even spoke to her.

She didn't expect Harry to not turn up at all.

Caroline was behind the counter and greeted Niall brightly when she came in, taking no notice of the look of surprise on Niall's face.

"Where's, um…" Niall laughed awkwardly as she messed up tying her apron around her waist. "I thought Harry was supposed to…?"

"Called me early this morning," she replied as she gave change to the girl across the counter, "practically begged for a day off."

"Oh," Niall answered, quickly schooling her face into an indifferent look when Caroline looked at her, "probably for the best, especially after the party last night."

"Is that what he was up to?" Caroline asked, chuckling under her breath as she shook her head. "You don't seem worse for the wear, though."

"Didn't have that much to drink," Niall replied with a shrug, "but I've still probably got a better tolerance than Harry."

"Wouldn't surprise me in the least." Caroline grinned. "Now c'mere and take over, I've got to go pick up Brooklyn."

"You… what?" Niall stared at her for a moment and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"You'll be fine, Jade will be here in an hour."

"A-Alright," Niall said as Caroline patted her on the shoulder as she passed, running out of the shop and leaving Niall all on her own. She'd never been left to tend to the shop on her own; she'd gotten far too used to always having Harry around to back her up.

It had never occurred to her that she'd never worked a shift without Harry until then, and she weight of that realization made it a bit harder for Niall to push away all the worries that had built up in her mind overnight. Thankfully, the one saving grace of being on her own in the coffee shop was that when a rush hit, she couldn't afford to concentrate on anything other than work.

She carefully dodged Jade's questions about Harry's whereabouts when she arrived, choosing instead to ask her a hundred questions about the new boy in her own life. It was far easier to listen to Jade gush over him than it was to even _think_ about Harry, and Niall was all too eager to deflect the topic for the rest of her life if that's what it took.

It only made her nervous to think about what she would say the next time she saw Harry. Maybe he wouldn't even remember and they could continue on as normal, which would mean Niall would've spent a whole day worrying over nothing. But then again, what if he did remember?

"You alright?" Jade asked as she laid her hand on Niall's shoulder, gently shaking her out of the daze she'd fallen into while lost in her own thoughts.

"Yeah," she answered, putting on a smile to make Jade stop frowning at her, "m'fine."

"You're acting funny," Jade said. She kept staring at Niall with such a serious look that Niall felt like cowering, which was remarkably weird in itself since on any given day Jade was anything but threatening. "Something's not right."

"Everything's fine, Jade, I swear." Niall tried smiling even wider, but Jade shook her head.

"No, no something's wrong. S'different."

"Jade--"

"Is it about Harry? Did something happen?" Jade's eyes widened. "Is that why he's not here today?"

"Nothing happened!" Niall insisted. "He's just hungover or something, I dunno." She let out a huff as she stepped away from Jade and tried to focus on the customer that had just come up to the counter despite feeling Jade's eyes burning holes in the back of her head.

She just had another hour left in her shift and all Niall wanted was to get through it without hearing Harry's name, thinking about him, and especially remembering the way it had felt to have Harry's lips on her, was that so much to ask?

Jade left her alone for the remainder of her shift, the two of them only exchanging words when it came to customer orders. It was awful, stilted conversation, but if it meant that Niall didn't have to talk about Harry then she was going to deal with it for the time being. She spent the time in silence forcing herself to think about anything other than Harry.

She was halfway through planning out one of her assignments in her head while she was taking out the garbage when Jade's voice carried through the back door, calling out her name and asking her to come back inside.

"If this is about the blueberry scone that went missing, I told you I--"

Niall's voice gave out as she came to a full stop upon seeing Harry standing before her, looking about as exhausted as she felt. Niall's eyes quickly darted to Jade, who cleared her throat loudly as she nodded her head towards him in the least subtle way possible.

"Look who it is!" Jade couldn't be any more obvious if she'd hit them both with bricks. "I'll let you two talk."

Niall couldn't move a muscle to stop her from leaving; she could barely manage a glare in Jade's direction as she walked away, grinning at Niall as she passed.

"Hi," Harry offered quietly. Niall let out a breath like she'd been holding it in for ages, halfway to a sob at the sound of his voice. He sounded worn out, sad, everything that Niall had never heard before and truthfully never wanted to hear again.

"Hi, she replied, long enough after Harry had spoken that he gave a soft breath of relief as though he'd been expecting her to run off. "What're you doing here?"

"Funny story," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at Niall with nervous eyes, "Louis threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't come 'round."

"Did he? What for?"

"Because he and Liam were tired of listening to me go on and on about how I'd fucked everything up."

Niall blinked. "You… what?"

"I shouldn't have kissed you last night," he admitted with a sigh, "I was drunk, and… it wasn't right."

"Oh," Niall said as she felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. Her eyes dropped to the ground as she muttered, "yeah, no, I… I understand."

"Niall…"

"No, I get it," she choked out a laugh, "you were drunk and I was there. It's alright."

"No," Harry frowned, "no, Niall, that's… that's not it at all."

"No, it's fine," Niall went on, ignoring what Harry had said, "I didn't, like, expect it to mean anything, if that's what you're worried about. It was just a drunken kiss between--"

"Niall, stop," Harry begged, "it wasn't like that, not at all."

"It's fine--"

"No, it's not! I don't just go around kissing everyone because I'm drunk." Niall let herself look up from the floor and saw Harry staring back at her with a look of genuine distress. "Why would you think that?"

"B-Because you flirt with everyone!" Niall sighed. "What am I supposed to think?"

"I do it for you!"

"What?" Niall asked, in utter disbelief that she'd heard Harry correctly.

"It makes you laugh," he explained, "and, yeah, it might brighten up their day as well, but it's mostly just for you."

"You… flirt with other people… for me?" Niall let out a short laugh before clasping her hand over her mouth as Harry started to blush.

"I just like making you laugh," he mumbled. "I like making you smile… I like _you_."

"You…" Niall couldn't think, she could hardly breathe. Her heart was pounding and her legs were starting to feel wobbly beneath her, as though any moment they were going to give out.

"I've wanted to kiss you since that first day," Harry chuckled softly, "something in the way you stood up to Louis, I just… couldn't take my eyes off you. Couldn't stop thinking about you. I know it was stupid of me to try and kiss you while I was drunk, but I was too scared to do it any other time."

Niall was dizzy and lightheaded, positive that she was going to faint at any moment and wholly unable to say a word.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for kissing you like that and making you uncomfortable and I don't deserve your forgiveness but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't try, and--mmph!"

Somewhere between one second and the next, Niall crossed the space between them and grabbed Harry's face to kiss him. She caught him by surprise, but he recovered quickly enough to wrap one arm around her waist and cradle her head with his other hand as he started kissing her back. Niall slid her hands into his hair, unable to resist the urge to tug on his curls. His grip on her tightened in response and he groaned into her mouth, the both of them panting harshly when they pulled away.

"Gonna have fun with that, I think," Niall whispered breathlessly, Harry laughing along with her before they kissed again. They broke apart a second time at the sound of Jade whistling loudly and catcalling them.

"Get a room!"

"Piss off!" Niall turned to yell, her eyes slipping shut when Harry pressed his lips against her neck. She let out a soft moan when he nipped at the tender skin with his teeth, twisting her fingers tighter in his hair to make him shiver in response.

"Niall, I--"

Niall squeaked suddenly, interrupting Harry as she felt his phone vibrate against her leg where it was pressed against the pocket of his jeans. Harry laughed as he dropped his hand from the back of her head to pull it out, punching in his passcode to reveal a text from Louis.

**WELL??????????**

"Let me," Niall said as she took the phone from Harry's hand, quickly opening the camera and flipping the screen so it reflected their faces back at them. She turned back to look at Harry and pressed their lips together, kissing him for far longer than necessary for a simple photograph but not having the strength to pull away after just one kiss.

She sent it off to Louis and tossed Harry's phone onto the counter behind him, wrapping her arms back around his neck as he looped his around her waist.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," he replied with a laugh, kissing her nose as he smiled at her.

"I like you too, just in case that wasn't clear."

"Good to know," Harry answered just as his phone vibrated loudly against the counter. He groaned as he reached for it again, groaning even louder when he saw the picture that Louis had sent in return.

"That's…" Niall cocked her head to the side, as she tried to make sense of all the skin on display. "Is that… Liam?"

"Louis is such a twat," Harry grumbled as he turned his phone off completely and stuffed it back in his pocket.

"You know what this means, right?" Niall asked.

"What?"

Niall gave him a wicked smile as she pressed a quick kiss against his lips. "Well, we'll just have to out-do them, won't we?"

"I like the way you think," Harry replied, grinning as he kissed her again.

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://imlouisaf.tumblr.com)


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